Robert Englund Biography
Summary
"Robert Barton Englund" (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the " Nightmare on Elm Street" film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" in 1987 and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" in 1988. Despite his reputation for appearing in horror films, Englund is a classically trained actor.
Biography
Personal life
Englund was born in Glendale, California on June 6th 1947, the son of Janis (née McDonald) and C. Kent Englund, an aeronautics engineer who helped develop the Lockheed U-2 aircraft. He has Swedish ancestry. Englund began studying acting at the age of twelve in Normal IL. While he was in high school, he attended the "Cranbrook Theatre School" (organized by the Cranbrook Educational Community) in Bloomfield Hills. He then attended California State University Northridge for three years before transferring to Michigan's Oakland University, where he trained at the Meadow Brook Theatre, at the time a branch of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Englund has been married three times. He currently resides in Laguna Beach, California.
Career
Since his first film, "Buster and Billie", in 1974, Englund has made over 100 appearances on film and television. His early film roles usually typed him as a nerd or a redneck, and he first gained attention in the role of Willie, the lovably innocent alien in the 1983 miniseries "V", as well as the 1984 sequel "V: The Final Battle", and "V: The Series".
After his huge success in "A Nightmare on Elm Street", Englund became the first new horror movie star since Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the 1960s. His association with the genre led him to top-billed roles in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1989), "The Mangler" (1995), and "2001 Maniacs" (2005). While no longer a headliner, today he is revered by horror fans as an elder statesman of the genre.
Englund is one of only two actors to play a horror character eight consecutive times, the other being Doug Bradley, who portrayed the Pinhead character eight times in the "Hellraiser" film series. Englund has said that he enjoys the role of Freddy as it gives him a break from always playing the nice guy; indeed, many people who have worked with Englund attest to his congeniality. Makeup artists responsible for the Krueger makeup have commented that Englund was so friendly and talkative that it made the lengthy makeup application slightly more challenging.
Englund's TV appearances include starring in the short-lived series "Nightmare Cafe" (1992), in which he played Whitey, the mysterious proprietor of the title cafe, and reprising his role of 'Freddy Krueger' in the series "Freddy's Nightmares". His guest spots include the science fiction series "Babylon 5", "Masters of Horror", "MadTV", "Sliders", and "Knight Rider", where he played a phantom haunting a film studio. He provided the voice of magician Felix Faust in "Justice League", The Riddler on "The Batman" and The Vulture on "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and on the upcoming series "The Super Hero Squad Show" . On the TV witch drama "Charmed" (Episode: 'Size Matters'), he played a demon who used the services of a lackey to lure people into a decrepit household (where he lived in the walls) and shrank them down to action figure size. He also appeared on an episode of Married... with Children as The Devil.
Englund performed as host of the Horror Hall of Fame awards show three times from 1989-1991.
Englund made his directorial début with the 1989 horror film "976-EVIL". His second feature, "Killer Pad", was released direct-to-DVD in 2008. He is currently in pre-production to direct The Vij, about a young priest who is led by an evil genie to commit murder, and who falls in love with an old witch who is not what she seems.
Robert Englund has written a memoir, "Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams" with coauthor Alan Goldsher, to be published by Pocket Books on October 13, 2009.
He stars also in the web series 'Fear Clinic'.
Filmography
"Buster and Billie" (1974)
"Hustle" (1975)
"Stay Hungry" (1976)
"Eaten Alive" (1977)
"Big Wednesday" (1978)
"Bloodbrothers" (1978)
"Dead & Buried" (1981)
"Galaxy of Terror" (1981)
"V (The Original Miniseries)" (1983)
"V (The Final Battle)" (1984)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)
"V (1984 TV series)" (1984 - 1985)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" (1985)
"North and South Book II" (1986)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (1988)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" (1989)
"The Phantom of the Opera" (1989)
"The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" 1990
"Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991)
"Tobe Hooper's Night Terrors" (1993)
"Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994)
"The Mangler" (1995)
"The Paper Brigade" (1996)
"Killer Tongue" (1996)
"Wishmaster" (1997)
"Strangeland (1998)
"Urban Legend" (1998)
"Meet the Deedles" (1998)
"Python" (2000)
"Justice League" (2002) as Felix Faust
"Wish You Were Dead" (2002)
"Freddy vs. Jason" (2003)
"Il ritorno di Cagliostro (The Return of Cagliostro)" (2003)
"2001 Maniacs" (2005)
"Dance of the Dead", episode of Masters of Horror (2005)
"Justice League Unlimited" (2005) as Felix Faust
"The Batman" (2005) as The Riddler
"Hatchet" (2007)
"Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (2006)
"Heartstopper (2006)
"Red" (2008)
"Black Swarm" (2008)
"Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" (2008)
"Killer Pad" (2008) director only
"Zombie Strippers" (2008)
"The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) as Vulture
"The Vij" (2009) director only
"Fear Clinic" (2009)
"The Super Hero Squad Show" (2009) as Dormammu
Education
Granada Hills High School, Granada Hills, California
University of California, Los Angeles, California
Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
BA Theatre, California State University, Northridge
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England
External links
(Robert Englund's official website)
(Robert Englund interview with the Horror Asylum)
(Robert Englund interview by Ladyghost)
(Robert Englund's official "Killer Pad" website)
(Robert Englund interview by AOL Canada)
(Springwood: The Unofficial Robert Englund Fansite)
(... more)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Robert Englund.
